Y: The Yardbirds

10-30-09 Y: The Yardbirds

7" GOODNIGHT SWEET JOSEPHINE / THINK ABOUT IT EPIC US 5-10303

1968? 2 TRKS no pic sleeve, re-issue?

LP GREATEST HITS EPIC US LN 24246

1967 10 TRK Collection, mono

CD GREATEST HITS Vol. 1 RHINO US R2 75895

1986 18 TRK Collection (60's recordings)

7" I'M A MAN / SHAPES OF THINGS EPIC US 15-2247

1980? 2 TRKS no pic sleeve, re-issue

LP LITTLE GAMES EMI/FAME UK FA 4131224.1

1967 16 TRKS ('85 issue)

CDx2 LITTLE GAMES SESSIONS & MORE EMI US 98213.2

1992 32 TRKS ('67-'68 recordings)

LP LIVE YARDBIRDS EPIC US E 30615

1969 9 TRKS Live, 3/68

LP REMEMBER (Collection) EMI STARLINE UK SRS 5069

1974? 12 TRK Collection, fake-stereo (60's recordings)

CD ROGER THE ENGINEER WARNER US 45734.2

1966 14 TRKS ('97 issue) (2 x bonus tracks)

LP YARDBIRDS FAVORITES (Collection) EPIC US E 34490

1977 10 TRK Collection (60's recordings)

LP YARDBIRDS, THE (Collection) EPIC US FE 38455

1983 14 TRKS ('66 recording?)

The Yardbirds! Good luck? Bad luck? How did a group that had three of the most famous rock guitarists pass through it’s ranks end up with such a rag tag representation in the 21^st century? I mean, I can’t exactly say which one to start with – apart from maybe the old Epic “Greatest Hits” LP! Pretty much everything on my list here has something to recommend it. You may notice that I do not have the early 60’s Yardbirds live recordings with Sonny Boy Williamson (really poor quality recordings, IMHO).

The Rhino “Greatest Hits Vol. 1” CD isn’t too bad, but it certainly doesn’t have “everything” on it – and there’s no Vol. 2, as of 23 years later. No denying that the “Roger The Engineer” CD on Warner Brothers has some classic moments on it – it dovetails nicely with the “Little Games” 2CD set, which really shows off the Jimmy Page era. “Think About It” is such a good track.

“Y” artists are a little thin on the ground, hence my writing about The Yardbirds today. I guess I would buy a bit more of their material – if it were presented to me. I think I have all of the single A-sides, at this point. Not losing any sleep over not having those crummy Byg recordings / pressings.

W / X: Web

10-29-09 W / X: Web

I don’t remember how I got started on Web – probably from an old music friend of mine named Jim Hresko. Jim & I met in the early 70’s, after I placed a postcard saying I wanted to talk to people about Van Der Graaf Generator in a local record store.

Web “I, Spider” (Polydor UK 2383 024, 1970). I do not remember if he had a copy of it, when we started talking about it. I definitely did not. In fact, it took me a few years to find someone with a copy for sale. This was all so long ago, pre-internet. It may have been something I bought in a brokered manner – i.e. someone knew someone who had a copy etc. – so several sets if mark-up got tacked on to my purchase of it. If memory serves, I paid US$50 for it in mid-to-late 70’s money.

Who knows why it was so obscure? Relatively few copies of it ever made it to the US, I would guess. Perhaps in early 1970, there were not such decent lines of communication set up, even in the music import / export business. And there is a first non-Dave Lawson Web album called “Fully Interlocking”, which isn’t very good – but is on the attractive Deram UK label.

Keyboard player / vocalist Dave Lawson went on to Samurai and Greenslade. In fact, the Samurai album even sounds a lot like “I, Spider”. I have the debut Greenslade album on CD, but…I never really liked them all that much, and I didn’t keep any of the other Greenslade albums, thought I’d probably cheap CD’s or inexpensive British originals, if I found them in 2009. I would love to find a British original LP for “Samurai”, but I think that’s up in the stratosphere these days, too. I used to have one, but…it was worth too much money back in the late 80’s, and my copy went to Japan to live. Still have my “I, Spider” LP, however.

You know those little metal medallion coins that you could pay 25 cents and stamp whatever you wanted onto it? I once made one for Jim Hresko while I was at Disneyland. I believe I was having trouble finding a copy of “I, Spider” (or maybe I had just found a copy for $50?) and I was going to make him one of those little medallions that said “The price for I Spider is Death!”…but, I was young and it was at Disneyland – and I hurriedly accidentally mis-stamped it, reading “I, Soider” instead of “I, Spider” – hence amusing both Jim Hresko and myself for 35+ years now. Jim’s progressive rock nick-name has always been “Soider”, between him & I. Nothing like a little exclusive language to shore things up!

If you want to hear this 1970 British progressive jazz/rock rarity, thankfully it has been re-issued on CD recently – Esoteric / Eclectic in England. Good luck on finding an LP of it for sale! In 2009, the price for “I, Spider” (on original LP) is still death. I’ve also had a Japanese CD of it for ages, on the Edison label – it’s probably a needle-drop, but the sound is still good.

T / U / V: Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra

10-28-09 T / U / V: Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra

Great band! I actually had the chance to see them perform live a few years ago, at t House of Blues in Hollywood (the last I went to that venue for a show). I’m going to guess they are all from Tokyo – or at least based there. I believe they have indie releases that come before the Epic/Sony titles, but I do not have the details.

CD ANSWER CUTTING EDGE JPN CTCR-14424

2005 14 TRKS

CD FANTASIA EPIC/SONY JPN ESCB 1473

1994 16 TRKS

LP FANTASIA EPIC/SONY JPN QDJB 93003

1994 7 TRKS promo-only

CD GRAND PRIX EPIC/SONY JPN ESCB 1591

1995 14 TRKS

CD HIGH NUMBERS CUTTING EDGE JPN CTCR-14242

2003 14 TRKS

CD LIVE EPIC/SONY JPN ESCB 1132

1991 7 TRKS Live

CD NEW MORAL BATTLE HOMICIDE (O.S.T.) CUTTING EDGE JPN CTCR-14240

2003 17 TRKS O.S.T.

CD ON TOUR CUTTING EDGE JPN CTCR-14329

2004 16 TRKS Live

CD5 PEELED ORANGE (?) CUTTING EDGE JPN CTCR-40083

2001 4 TRK CD EP

CD PIONEERS EPIC/SONY JPN ESCB 1348

1993 12 TRKS

CD5 SKA ME CRAZY CUTTING EDGE JPN CTCR-40115

2002 4 TRK CD Single CD5

CD SKA PARA TOUJOU EPIC/SONY JPN ESCB 1052

1990 12 TRKS debut

LP SKA PARA TOUJOU EPIC/SONY JPN QY.3H-90023

1990 13 TRKS promo-only

CD STOMPIN' ON DOWN BEAT ALLEY CUTTING EDGE JPN CTCR-14215

2002 14 TRKS

CD5 TOKYO DELUXE (O.S.T.) EPIC/SONY JPN ESCB 1554

1995 4 TRK CD Single CD5 O.S.T.

CD TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA EPIC/SONY JPN ESCB 1113

1990 6 TRK EP with slipcase

CD TOKYO STRUT EPIC/SONY JPN ESCB 1706

1996 13 TRKS

CD5 TOO HIP! GOTTA GO! CUTTING EDGE JPN CTCR-40095

2001 4 TRK CD Single CD5

CD3 WATERMELON EPIC/SONY JPN ESDB 3568

1993 2 TRK CD Single CD3; Yukihiro Takahashi

CD WE DON'T KNOW WHAT SKA IS! EPIC/SONY JPN ESCB 1842

1997 16 TRK Collection

CD WILD PEACE (CD + DVD) CUTTING EDGE JPN CTCR-14473

2006 13 TRKS + DVD (Approx. 40 min.)

CD WORLD FAMOUS EPIC/SONY JPN ESCB 1158

1991 17 TRKS

CD5 WORLD FAMOUS REMIX EPIC/SONY JPN ESCB 1251

1991 4 TRK CD Single CD5

I also have 4 or 5 laser discs – some are clips, some whole live shows. I think one of the LD’s is a TSPO movie! They have survived admirably into the new century. I am glad I have the vinyl titles that I do – I’ve never seen ‘em for sale in Tokyo!

S: David Sylvian

10-27-09 S: David Sylvian

The former front man for the British band “Japan”…his solo stuff that I have kept:

12" INK IN THE WELL, THE VIRGIN UK VS 700-12

1984 2 TRKS with pic sleeve

12" PULLING PUNCHES VIRGIN UK VS 717-12

1984 2 TRKS with pic sleeve

12" RED GUITAR VIRGIN UK VS 633-12

1984 2 TRKS with pic sleeve

LP BRILLIANT TREES VIRGIN UK V 2290

1984 7 TRKS

CD BRILLIANT TREES VIRGIN UK CDV 2290

1984 7 TRKS original CD issue

12" WORDS WITH THE SHAMAN VIRGIN UK VS 835-12

1985 3 TRKS with pic sleeve

12" SILVER MOON VIRGIN UK VS 895-12

1986 3 TRKS with pic sleeve

12" TAKING THE VEIL VIRGIN DE 608.414

1986 4 TRKS with pic sleeve

CD SECRETS OF THE BEEHIVE VIRGIN US 86028.2

1987 10 TRKS (1 x bonus track)

CD GONE TO EARTH VIRGIN UK CDVDL 1

1987 13 TRKS

LPx2 GONE TO EARTH VIRGIN US 90577.1

1987 17 TRKS

LP SECRETS OF THE BEEHIVE VIRGIN US 90677.1

1987 9 TRKS

12" ORPHEUS VIRGIN UK VST 1043

1988 3 TRKS with pic sleeve

12" POP SONG VIRGIN UK VST 1221

1989 3 TRKS with pic sleeve

LP DARSHAN (w/ Robt. Fripp) VIRGIN UK 839380

1993 2 TRKS remixes by The Grid etc.

CD FIRST DAY, THE (w/ Robt. Fripp) VIRGIN US 88208.2

1993 7 TRKS

LPx2 FIRST DAY, THE (w/ Robt. Fripp) VIRGIN UK V 2712

1993 7 TRKS

CD DEAD BEES ON A CAKE VIRGIN US 847071.2

1999 14 TRKS

12" GOD MAN VIRGIN UK VENTDJ 8

1999 2 TRKS with pic sleeve, promo

CD APPROACHING SILENCE VIRGIN US 48177.2

1999 3 TRKS

CDx2 EVERYTHING AND NOTHING (Collection) VIRGIN US 850017.2

2000 29 TRK Collection

I am curious about his recent CD, after having it recommended to me by a friend. Anybody out there heard it? There’s supposed to be some British free jazz guys on it.

I held out for an original edition of “Brilliant Trees” on CD, as I didn’t care for the new cover of the re-issue.

I have always liked Mr. Sylvian’s work with Ryuichi Sakamoto – that should be listed separately here, I think.

Ryuichi Sakamoto & David Sylvian:

12" BAMBOO HOUSES VIRGIN UK VS 510-12

1982 2 TRKS with pic sleeve

7" BAMBOO HOUSES / BAMBOO MUSIC VIRGIN JPN VIPX-1660

1982 2 TRKS with pic sleeve

7" BAMBOO HOUSES / BAMBOO MUSIC VIRGIN UK VS 510

1982 2 TRKS with pic sleeve

12" FORBIDDEN COLOURS VIRGIN UK VS 601-12

1983 3 TRKS with pic sleeve

CD3 FORBIDDEN COLOURS VIRGIN UK CDT 18

1983 3 TRK CD Single CD3

7" FORBIDDEN COLOURS / SEED AND THE SOWER VIRGIN JPN VIPX-1697

1983 2 TRKS with pic sleeve

7" FORBIDDEN COLOURS / SEED AND THE SOWER VIRGIN UK VS 601

1983 2 TRKS with pic sleeve

7" HEARTBEAT / NUAGES VIRGIN UK VUS 57

1992 2 TRKS with pic sleeve

CD5 WORLD CITIZEN S SOUND UK SS 002

2003 5 TRK CD Single CD5

CD ZERO LANDMINE (as "N.M.L.") WARNER JPN WPC6-10126

2001 6 TRKS No More Landmines

R: Roxy Music

10-26-09 R: Roxy Music


It’s true, since I last wrote about Roxy Music on ’06, I have added a few pieces to my collection.


7" ALL I WANT IS YOU / YOUR APPLICATION'S FAILED ISLAND UK WIP 6208
1974 2 TRKS no pic sleeve
LP ATLANTIC YEARS, THE – 1973 - 1980 ATLANTIC US 90122.1
1983 10 TRK Collection
LP AVALON EG UK EGHP 50
1982 10 TRKS
CD AVALON VIRGIN UK ROXYSACD 9
1982 11 TRKS (1 x bonus track) SACD ('03 issue)
7" BOTH ENDS BURNING / FOR YOUR PLEASURE (Live) ISLAND UK WIP 6262
1975 2 TRKS no pic sleeve
LP COUNTRY LIFE ATCO US SD 36-106
1974 10 TRKS #4; 'girl' cover
CD COUNTRY LIFE VIRGIN JPN VJCP-68824
1974 10 TRKS #4; 'girl' cover ('07 issue) (kami sleeve)
7" DO THE STRAND (Edit) / (Same) WARNER US WB 7719
1973 2 TRKS no pic sleeve, promo
LP FLESH AND BLOOD ATCO US SD 32-102
1980 10 TRKS
LP FOR YOUR PLEASURE POLYDOR UK 2302 049
1973 8 TRKS 2nd issue
CD FOR YOUR PLEASURE re VIRGIN US ROXYCD 2
1973 8 TRKS ('99 issue)
12" HIGH ROAD, THE WARNER US 23808.1
1983 4 TRKS with pic sleeve, Live EP
7" JEALOUS GUY / TO TURN YOU ON POLYDOR NL 2229 240
1981 2 TRKS with pic sleeve
LP MANIFESTO POLYDOR DE 2310 651
1979 10 TRKS
LP MANIFESTO POLYDOR UK EGPD 1
1979 10 TRKS picture disc
CD MUSIKLADEN pirate COLOSSEUM 96-C-007
1996? 13 TRKS Live, '73-'74 - pirate
7" PYJAMARAMA / PRIDE AND THE PAIN, THE ISLAND UK WIP 6159
1973 2 TRKS no pic sleeve
LP ROXY MUSIC ISLAND JPN ILS-80155
1972 10 TRKS insert
CD ROXY MUSIC TOSHIBA JPN VJCP-68821
1972 10 TRKS ('07 issue) kami sleeve
LP SIREN ATCO US SD 36-127
1975 9 TRKS
LP STRANDED ISLAND UK ILPS 9252
1973 8 TRKS original UK issue
CD STRANDED re VIRGIN UK ROXYCD 3
1973 8 TRKS re-mastered
7" STREET LIFE / HULA-KULA ISLAND UK WIP 6173
1973 2 TRKS no pic sleeve
7" TRASH / TRASH 2 EG UK POSP 32
1979 2 TRKS with pic sleeve
7" VIRGINIA PLAIN / NUMBERER, THE ISLAND UK WIP 6144
1972 2 TRKS no pic sleeve
LP VIVA! ROXY MUSIC - THE LIVE ROXY MUSIC ALBUM ATCO US SD 36-139
1976 8 TRKS Live


Very OK with the first two albums. Still warming to the next few. I’d probably buy any Island label issues, LP or singles, that I do not already have. Would really like to get an “Editions Of You” Warner Brothers US 45 – but is it just the B-side of “Do The Strand” or a different 45? Nice to see the double DVD set issued in the US. Very amused to get the SACD for “Avalon”, with it’s bonus track. Good sound, I must say – but not my favorite Roxy Music album, by a long shot. The Japanese little album cover CD’s are nice, aren’t they? I think I will always like the Phil Manzanera solo albums more than any RM titles…

Soupy Sales

Goodbye, Soupy Sales!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soupy_Sales

LP BAG OF SOUP, A MOTOWN US MS 686

1966? 13 TRKS

CD COMPLETE REPRISE RECORDINGS RHINO HANDMADE RHM2 7747 2000 31 TRK Collection

LP SOUPY SALES SHOW, THE REPRISE US R 6010

1961 12 TRKS mono

LP SOUPY'S DO THE MOUSE - AND OTHER TEEN HITS ABC PARAMOUNT ABC-517

1965? 12 TRKS mono

LP SPY WITH A PIE ABC PARAMOUNT ABC-503

1963? 13 TRKS mono

LP STILL SOUPY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS MCA US MCA-5274

1981 22 TRKS

LP UP IN THE AIR REPRISE US R 6052

1961 14 TRKS mono

Don't seem to still have my "Do The Mouse" 45, alas.

We grew up with this stuff on TV. It got in before the walls went up.

Ron

Q: Quatermass

10-23-09 Q: Quatermass

LP QUATERMASS HARVEST UK SHVL 775

1970 9 TRKS original UK issue

CD QUATERMASS ARCHIVE JPN AIRAC-1146

1970 11 TRKS ('05 issue) kami sleeve (2 x bonus tracks)

They’ve only got one record. Well, one LP / CD and a frighteningly rare 7” single (“One Blind Mice” b/w “Punting”). And maybe my favorite LP cover of the early 70’s (Hipgnosis; imagine them cutting those pictures out of magazines or something?!)

It should be noted that the recent (2005) Archive Records (Japan) CD of Quatermass sounds noticeably better than the Repertoire CD of the early 90’s – and they also very pleasingly replicate the original cover artwork.

Keyboard player Peter Robinson was also in Suntreader, but that wasn’t a great album, as I recall. Guess he’s been a session guy for ages now. Bass player John Gustafsson was also in Hard Stuff, but…not really my style. Wasn’t he also in Roxy Music, at some point? The band was a trio, can’t buzz off without mentioning drummer Mick Underwood.

Very much May, 1970 UK progressive rock. Surprisingly, it also got a US release, on Harvest Records via Capitol Records. Was it issued on cassette and 8-track tape? Probably so. Never saw the single for sale, however. It sounds a lot better on the Archive CD than it did on the Repertoire CD (which sounded like a dub of a dub of a cassette, 70’s style). When I got my original UK LP of this, I threw away my US LP of it.

I believe my favorite cut after all these years is “Postwar Saturday Echo”. When I first got the LP, it was definitely “Up On The Ground”, which has a bit of Deep Purple feeling to it. Heavy keyboards. And Gustafsson could really sing, too.

But it’s sort of funny – those groups / artists with only one LP. Hard to stay excited when nothing new ever walks down the pike, as regards some artists. The sole LP becomes sacrosanct, you love it and that’s all she wrote. But it takes some effort to be remembered with just one statement. My favorite “only one album” act is usually Holland’s Bonfire. That album still drives me nuts, 30+ years later. It’s like an instrumental magical puzzle, that album.

P: Augustus Pablo

10-22-09 P: Augustus Pablo

Instrumental dub reggae, mostly played on a melodica!

CD THIS IS…AUGUSTUS PABLO ABOVE ROCK ARM 2001

1972 14 TRKS

CD KING TUBBYS MEETS ROCKERS UPTOWN SHANACHIE SH 45059

1975 16 TRKS ('04 issue)

LP ROCKERS MEETS KING TUBBY IN A FIRE HOUSE SHANACHIE 43001

1980 9 TRKS

LP EAST OF THE RIVER NILE SHANACHIE 1003

1981 12 TRKS

CD EAST OF THE RIVER NILE SHANACHIE SH 45051

1981 18 TRKS (6 x bonus tracks)

CD CLASSIC ROCKERS ISLAND US 539953.2

1995 16 TRK Compilation

CD MELODICA KING, THE OCHO UK OCHOCD 004

2000 21 TRK Collection

CD VERY BEST OF JET STAR JSGCD 0452

2002 20 TRK Collection

CDx4 MYSTIC WORLD OF - ROCKERS STORY (4CD + DVD Set) SHANACHIE 45068

2008 67 TRK Collection + DVD

My collection is small, but my interest is large. And I know very little about him – not much more than one can learn from the liner notes of his 4CD + DVD boxed set, “Mystic World Of”. I arrived here after reading about “This is…Augustus Pablo”, likely in either Word or Mojo, calling it “The Best Dub Album Ever” (I think). No luck turning it up in L.A., so I got a copy on my next visit to Amoeba San Francisco (who probably has the mightiest reggae section in California). I don’t ‘smoke’, but…I really liked “This Is…”

I’ll be honest, I have never particularly done a lot of reggae. I was exposed to quite a lot of it, starting in the late 70’s. I have a very vivid memory of being in the Record & Tape Exchange in Notting Hill Gate, London, England in 1979 – and having instrumental dub reggae played (at me) for hours, as I poured through the 45 bins upstairs – I remember thinking “This stuff is preferable to the slick Bob Marley kind of reggae” or thereabouts.

So, I end up with a few “African Dub” LP’s, some Big Youth, an Althea & Donna collection…and now a stack of Augustus Pablo titles.

There’s something haunting about that lonely melodica sound, when baked into a smoke-filled dub reggae record…I guess I’ve listened to Mr. Pablo mostly on CD! The DVD that came in the boxed set showed him playing in Japan, so I’m glad that got to happen. The discography in the CD boxed set doesn’t look massive, but…when reggae titles can be ‘licensed’ from numerous sources, let’s just say that with the myriad re-releases and re-packagings – it’s sometimes hard to tell his non-Shanachie titles apart!